ANN: miXem deluxe v1.0 available for download

[mooktown]

Seasons greetings!

I'm delighted to announce our new title, miXem deluxe (http://www.mooktown.com/miXem_deluxe_install.exe), in which you embark on a journey of a lifetime in the great 'Depth Quest' in your search for the lost key to the ancient city of gold!

Uncover long lost treasures as they rise from an Inca lava pit. Grand prizes, encased in coloured blocks, fossilized for hundreds of years. Match 3 or more of the same blocks together to break them open and release the valuable riches!

Before you can match them though you must first mix'em! The colours of the blocks must be mixed together to create the colours needed to be matched, just like mixing paints!

Matching groups of 6 or more blocks will activate a Lava Head bonus, which, when activated will take out a row of blocks with a blast of lava! 5 of these powerups can be saved up to be used strategically when the blocks are getting too close to the top of the pit.

Screenshots:
miXem 1 (http://www.mooktown.com/mixemsshot1large.jpg) miXem 2 (http://www.mooktown.com/mixemsshot2large.jpg) miXem 3 (http://www.mooktown.com/mixemsshot3large.jpg) miXem 4 (http://www.mooktown.com/mixemsshot4large.jpg) miXem 5 (http://www.mooktown.com/mixemsshot5large.jpg) miXem 6 (http://www.mooktown.com/mixemsshot6large.jpg)

Free demo:
Windows (http://www.mooktown.com/miXem_deluxe_install.exe)

This is our first title using the fantastic PopCap framework (http://developer.popcap.com/index.php), and has been made in conjunction with Binary Graffiti (http://www.binary-graffitti.com) (igf member mj32). Originally a mobile phone game, which incidentally placed 3rd in the Samsung game developer contest held this year. I'm hoping that the mixing element of the gameplay will bring a (small) breath of fresh air to the many colour matching fans out there.

I would be thankful for any kind of feedback on what you like or dislike about this game. :)

Kindest regards,
Paul Hamilton

[joe]

Looks like a nice polished puzzle game. Very nice screenshots. I will give it a try later on.

[Kaos]

game play is decent, a nice twist on this genre of a puzzle game!

[superfrog]

Nice screenshots, but the gameplay seems already seen.

Question, why not trying new way for a new gameplay.

byeZ

[mooktown]

thanks for the kind words guys, let me know how you get on joe :)

if anyone has an old pc without 3d hardware installed to test the game on I'd appreciate some feedback about that

[soniCron]

if anyone has an old pc without 3d hardware installed to test the game on I'd appreciate some feedback about that You could just temporarily break your drivers... If it's accelerated via Direct3D, you can shut it off with DXDIAG.

[joe]

I had a look at Mixem now.

I like the graphics very much but I think the stone/blocks graphics could probably be done better. I also don't like the font in the title menu, but hey, this is a matter of personal taste and Emmanuel (our graphican) is always telling me coders doesn't have any taste! :-)

A very interessting idea is to mix the classic match-3 gameplay with mixing colors. Indeed I never played a game before where you have to mix colors, so thumbs up for trying to create a new, unique gameplay and not just copying an already used game mechanic one by one.

I'm not calling myself a hardcore match-3 fan (you know, those guys who have to own ev'ry match 3 game in the world), and this usally isn't the type of game I play all day, so I didn't like the (new, unique) game mechanic very much, but I'm sure there are a lot of people out there who will enjoy and love your game. So, when will we see it on BigFishGames and the other portals... :-)

Anyway, congrats on a great puzzle game - it definitly is one!

[oNyx]

The screenshots look damn awesome. My only gripe is that the writing on screenshot #1 doesnt fit the theme at all.

[mooktown]

Thanks for the extremely kind words joe, kaos, onyx, much appreciated.

About the logo. Logo design is far from being my strong point, I'm absolutely useless at it :D I almost changed the logo a few times but was talked out of it as none of them looked as 'right' as the blue one.

Perhaps the logo only looks funky because the guy isnt in front of it on that screenshot? when the game starts up the little helper character does drop on from the top of the screen to stand in front of the big X with his hands up, which makes the logo look a little more interesting, like how it looks on the main game page here (http://www.mooktown.com/mixempc_gamepage.html)

Here (http://www.mooktown.com/miXem_woodenlogo.gif)'s a link to the other one, I could change it to this one if people think its better and would make a difference, or if anyone has any better ideas for how the logo could look I'd be very grateful for the input! :)

kind regards,
Paul

[Emmanuel]

Very nice game and effects!

The only problems I've encountered were that once in a while, i click on a button on the main menu and nothing happens (after clicking 2 or 3 times it works), and also that half of the time, the butterfly lands on top of the text I'm trying to read. I realize you can shoo it away with the mouse but it's bad to frustrate your players on purpose :) Also I wonder why the game starts in windowed mode by default? That takes away from the experience I think. Finally I concur with others, the font is horrendous compared to the rest of the very nice, additive alpha blending enhanced graphics, and it feels tacked on.

Best regards,
Emmanuel

[joe]

Also I wonder why the game starts in windowed mode by default?

Doesn't Zuma Deluxe also launch in windowed mode by default? (if I remember right, it does, but not sure about that).

[mj32]

Thanks for the feedback!

We will look into those font/menu issues and try and improve them a bit!

;)

[mooktown]

Also I wonder why the game starts in windowed mode by default? That takes away from the experience I think.

I think I read someone on here saying they hated games that started up in fullscreen and I guess it just stuck in my head that it was a design rule or something. Do most games start in fullscreen atm?

[electronicStar]

The very generic "setting" is insulting for andin people or people with a minimal culture who don't confuse inca and disney-aztec (but I think it won't be a problem for the general audience of match 3 clones)

When I publish my match-3 clone, I'll make sure to set its action in my version of australia! :)

[mooktown]

Hi, I've uploaded a new version with changes made in regards to the kind feedback given here. The link at the top is still valid for the new demo (http://www.mooktown.com/miXem_deluxe_install.exe).

Changes made:

butterflies no longer get in the way of menu text
menu mouse clicks now read correctly
menu fonts have been cleaned up
game now begins in fullscreen mode
the logo has had a full redesign, and im certain it looks better now


The new logo can be seen here (http://www.mooktown.com/mixemsshot1large.jpg), hopefuly the people who expressed concern over the old logo can comment on wether they prefer this new one

thank's once again for your time playing and commenting, we should have the press release ready soon, hopefuly the game will at least make its dev cost back :)